Unfussy Wine Enthusiasts | Wine Reviews & Articles

Courtesy  montecristomagazine.com This past Friday we were fortunate enough to be invited to a wine tasting event at the Halifax Club for Sandhill Wines from British Columbia.  The event featured Howard Soon the Master Winemaker for Sandhill and what followed was an awesome display of great wines from the Okanagan Valley. Howard gave us a really great run down of the vineyards they draw their grapes from and it was really interesting to see the variance of temperature, climate, and varieties being grown.  He was very generous with his time talking about the challenges of growing grapes like Sangiovese and Barbera in the Okanagan.  He showed us pictures of the cliffs at the base of the vineyard that hold in the heat to allow the Italian varieties to ripen.  Really interesting. We tried a number of their wines, all listed locally, and found out that Sandhill has made a very thoughtful point of ensuring that their wines are the same price across this varie...

Given the fact that there is a new initiative by our local Government to allow wines from other provinces to be imported for personal consumption, we figured we would give this wine a try.  This Pinot Noir from British Columbia is very unique.  It is closer to California Pinot but that comparison doesn't do this wine justice.  It is definitely a warm climate wine with a dark look and a seriously hot nose. As a Pinot Noir when compared to all the French and Kiwi versions we have tried this is not even on the same planet.  It is dark with a slightly thin look but is much closer to a medium bodied wine.  This is another wine that swirls and sticks to the sides and comes down slow, but at 14.7% no shock.  The colour is a deep red and not even close to reminiscent of "normal" Pinot Noir.  Lighter than Cabernet Sauvignon yes, but not that dark either. This wine has a lot of complexity in the nose with an earthy base full of mushrooms and dirt la...